Daniel Rich translates photographs into paintings that draw attention to implicit political and social narratives embedded in the built environment. In his work, architectural imagery is used to initiate a dialogue about shifting political power structures, (failed) utopias, the consequences of ideological conflicts, war, and natural upheaval.
He is particularly interested in the highly symbolic role architecture plays in politics and its capacity to serve as an icon of lived experience—a portrait of an existential phenomenology that reflects the state of society at a specific moment in history.
His paintings highlight the shifting significance and meaning found both in images of places and in the places themselves. Rich's interest in the potential divergence and duality of images, as well as the media’s role in framing and presenting issues to the public, is closely tied to a pictorial form of architecture—one that can act as a symbol of political, religious, and social systems and beliefs. He collects and appropriates photographs sourced from the internet, newspapers, radio and television broadcasts, as well as through ongoing research and reading. These mediated images are then painted to transform them into visual signifiers, intended to evoke meaning and invite discourse.
Rich’s painting process evolved from his background in printmaking—specifically screen printing and intaglio. His process begins with a found image or a photograph he takes in response to his research. This source image is digitally manipulated and scaled in Photoshop, printed to the desired dimensions, then traced and redrawn onto an aluminum composite panel covered with a translucent vinyl mask. The resulting line drawing is cut out by hand using a precision knife, and colors are mixed to match the source image using Golden fluid acrylic paints and mediums. The final painting emerges through a meticulous, multilayered process of masking and stenciling, involving the precise cutting of shapes and the application of paint with a squeegee.
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